Donald Trump’s most serious legal woes have come to an end, at least for the next four years.
On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith officially filed a motion to Judge Tanya Chutkan requesting the dismissal of the federal government’s charges in its pending election-subversion case against Trump. Shortly after, Smith moved to have the other federal case against Trump, which accuses him of illegally retaining classified documents, dismissed as well. The Justice Department has a standing policy against the prosecution of sitting presidents. Chutkan granted Smith’s request to dismiss the 2020 election case “without prejudice,” potentially leaving the door open for the matter to be reopened once Trump leaves office.
Last August, Trump was indicted on four counts in connection with the government’s January 6 investigation, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. In his six-page filing on Monday, Smith said his team conferred with the department’s Office of Legal Counsel and concluded that the Constitution requires the matter to be dismissed before Trump is sworn in. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” Smith writes.
The move was an admission of defeat from Smith, who had already faced obstacle after obstacle in the two cases he has led since Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed him two years ago. The 2020-election-subversion case suffered a setback after the Supreme Court ruled in July that past and future presidents could not be prosecuted for official acts taken while in office.
In response, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon tossed the government’s second case against Trump, involving his retention of classified documents. (Those charges were once thought to be the most open-and-shut among all the charges Trump has faced since 2020, but Cannon never appeared receptive to the government’s argument.) Smith quickly appealed that decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. But on Monday, he asked that same court to dismiss his appeal, citing the same justification as in the January 6 case — that prosecuting a sitting president is prohibited. But Smith maintained his appeal of Cannon’s ruling regarding two other defendants in the case, former Trump Diet Coke valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
Though Trump could still be subject to state prosecution even while serving as president, the path to that outcome also appears to be narrowing. Last week, Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over the Manhattan hush-money trial, officially took Trump’s sentencing hearing, scheduled for later this month, off the calendar as Trump’s attorneys seek to have the matter dismissed entirely. In May, a jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her election-year silence about an alleged affair. Georgia’s pending case alleging a conspiracy to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results in the state, which has seen its share of troubles, also appears to be on pause in the wake of Trump’s win this month.
